Avoiding sugary drinks prevents Type 2 diabetes

CANBERRA: Cutting down on sugary drinks would significantly reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes,
according to the results of an Australian-led international study published on Friday.

Researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) studied nearly 40,000 people in Thailand between 2005 and 2013, and found that thousands of cases of the disease could be prevented annually if they gave up drinking sugary and fizzy drinks.

“Over 4,000 cases of Type 2 diabetes could be prevented annually in the Thai population if people avoided drinking sugary drinks daily,” lead author of the study, Keren Papier, said on Friday. “Thai women, who are at double the risk of Type 2 diabetes from drinking sugary drinks, would be the main beneficiaries [of cutting it out of one’s diet].”

Papier said the results have further highlighted the need for a tax to be put on sugary drinks, because in addition to reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes, a sugar tax would do wonders for the Australian government’s bottom line, citing a similar tax in Mexico that has so far raised $2.6 billion.